Four U.S. Olympians Added to NYC Half Field

Three men and one woman who were on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team will join fellow Olympian Bernard Lagat at the NYC Half on March 17, race organizers New York Road Runners announced this morning.

The three men are Dathan Ritzenhein, Meb Keflezighi, and Abdi Abdirahman. Ritzenhein has the fastest half-marathon PR of the group, 1:00:00, which he ran while placing third at the 2009 world half-marathon championships. In an interview with Runner's World Newswire published earlier today, Ritzenhein called that performance the highlight of his international career, which also includes placing sixth at 10,000 meters in the 2009 world championships and ninth in the 2008 Olympic Marathon.

Keflezighi and Abdirahman will use the NYC Half as a key tune-up for the Boston Marathon on April 15.

Janet Bawcom, who placed 12th in the Olympic 10,000 last summer, headlines a fairly well-matched field of American women. Her half-marathon PR of 1:09:55 is the fastest in the field. Maegan Krifchin, who ran 1:10:56 last summer, and Serena Burla, who has a 1:10:08 PR, could be her biggest challengers. Stephanie Rothstein Bruce, who has a 2:29:35 marathon PR, Molly Pritz, who ran 1:10:45 last year, and Adriana Nelson, whose 1:09:59 half-marathon PR dates to 2005, will also run.

Besides the three Olympians announced today, other American men in the field include Jason Hartmann, who was fourth at last year's Boston Marathon, and Guor Marial, who ran the Olympic Marathon under the Olympic flag but is now a citizen of the United States.